Cerebras Q3 Core Revenue Hits $230.9M, Guides Q4 to $310-330M

Cerebras Systems reported record third-quarter core revenue of $230.9 million on Nov. 12, guided fourth-quarter core revenue to $310 million to $330 million, and announced a cloud deal with an unnamed top-three hyperscaler that CEO Andrew Feldman told CNBC is Microsoft, signed in October.

According to the company's third-quarter release, filed with the US Securities and Exchange Commission, GAAP revenue was $210.8 million, up 55% from a year earlier. Core revenue, a non-GAAP measure that excludes customer-warrant amortization, stock-based compensation and data-center pass-through items, rose 70%. Core cloud and other services revenue was $144.9 million, up 272%. Core gross margin was 41%, and the core operating margin was a negative 14%.

CNBC reported that core revenue beat the $214.7 million average of analysts' estimates compiled by LSEG, and that the stock rose 17% in extended trading. It also beat Cerebras' own guide: in its second-quarter release, the company had forecast third-quarter core revenue of about $214 million to $216 million. Revenue came in roughly 7% above the midpoint of that range.

Microsoft Deal Per the CEO, and the Q4 Guide

Cerebras' release says it announced "a cloud deal with a top three hyperscaler" and that more will be shared next year. It does not name the customer. CEO Andrew Feldman told CNBC that the customer is Microsoft, that it signed in October, and that "revenue begins to show up in Q1 '27." Terms and size were not disclosed in either source. That timing shapes the numbers. Microsoft revenue is not in the fourth-quarter guide, so the step from $230.9 million to the $320 million midpoint, about 39% in one quarter, has to come from existing customers and capacity coming online.

The company raised its full-year 2026 core revenue range to $940 million to $960 million, from $880 million to $890 million in August. CNBC said analysts had expected $271 million for the fourth quarter. Cerebras said it expects revenue to triple in 2027, which CNBC put at about $2.85 billion against a $2.92 billion consensus.

700 MW of Data Center Capacity for Cerebras

The release says Cerebras secured 700 gross megawatts of data-center capacity for delivery by the end of 2027, including new contracts in Norway and Finland, and that remaining performance obligations stood at $26.1 billion at Sept. 30. It also expects to exit 2026 with more than 10 times the manufacturing capacity it had at the start of the year, working with Flex and Sanmina. Cash, restricted cash and short-term investments totaled $7.8 billion, with $850 million of debt capacity. Feldman told CNBC the company is evaluating financing options for the ramp.

For data-center planners, the 700 MW figure is the number to watch. Cerebras claims its disaggregated inference approach lets a facility deliver up to 5 times as many tokens, which would raise revenue per megawatt. That is a vendor claim; the release gives no independent measurement.

Microsoft is also reportedly shrinking its neocloud roster, as Voltgrid reported, which makes a direct Cerebras contract a different channel from third-party capacity. Cerebras said in the same release that Oracle will offer its inference on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure in 2027.

What is not confirmed yet

Microsoft has not commented in the sources we read, and the Cerebras release does not name it, so the customer identity rests on Feldman's interview with CNBC. The contract value, term and capacity are undisclosed. The 700 MW is gross capacity under contract, not power delivered.